Tie-loader.



B. PLATTER.

TIE LOADBE. 'APPLIU ATION FILED 00124, 1908. 932,571, I Patented Aug. 31, 1909.

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E. PLATTER,

TIE LOADER.

APPLICATION FILED 001224, 1908.

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E.PLATTER.

TIE LOADBR.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.24, 19118.

Patented Aug. 31, 1909.

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Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 31, 1909.

Application filed October 24, 1908. Serial No. 459,379.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, EDGAR PLATTER, a citizen of the 'United States, residing at Ranchester, in thecounty of Sheridan and State of Wyoming, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tie- Loaders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device for loading ties upon earseither from a stack ofties or from a dock or Water basin, into the out dropping the first vtles loaded from aconsiderable height.

A further object of my invention is codevise an apparatus ofthis kind which w1ll' load a large number of ties per day and which will at the same time require but a few men to operate, and very little manual handling of the ties. Toaccomplish this result, the deviceis provided withmeansufor placing the ties in position in a. cradlewliich automatically drops them upon a car hold- 1 ing the tie until its full length has beenv def livered to the cradle, thusstackingthe ties upon the car with their ends praeticallyeven.

The invention consists in: the novel features of construction,arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described, pointed out in the claims and shown in the accompanying drawings,[in which Figure 1 is-a side elevation, showing my. invention in use; Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is a section through an inclined conveyer looking toward a fixed vertical-frame. Fig. 4 is a sectional View throughthe vertical frame, said section being taken parallel' to track rails; Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view illustrating a certain tripping and locking mechanism. Fig. 6 is a detail section on the line 66 of Fig. 2. Fig; 7 is a detail sectional view on the line 7.7 of Fig.5.

In these drawings 1 represents a vertical frame which extends over a track 2 so that a car 3 can be run into'theframe 1, the: side members of the frame being arranged upon ,OPPOSltG sides of the track and the top of the frame extending across the track and at considerable distance above it. This frame forms a. fixed support for a mechanism adapted to'load ties 1 upon a car 3. To conivey the ties t to the car and to deposit them as shown, I employ a fixed trackway 5 providedywith a conveyer chain (3 which conveys the ties from'a dock, yard or stack to a ipoint adj acent, the track 2 and the frame 1. ;'lheconveyer chain 6 runs over a suitable sprocket fixed upon a shaft 7 below which is a'shaft 8 upon which is fixed a driven pulley "8,driven by a belt9 from any suitable source of power. Leading from the trackiway 5 to the frame 1 is an inclined vertically swinging trackway 10 provided with a conveyer chain 11 which receives the ties f from the chain 6 and which runs over a suitable sprocket wheel fixed upon a shaft 12 at the lower end of the trackway 10, the chain traveling over the upper end of said trackway in any desired manner. Upon the shafts 7 and 12 are also arranged suitable sprockets over which runs a drive chain 13, thus running the shaft 12 and chain 11 from the shaft 7. "The shaft 7 is provided with a pulley 14 over which runs a belt 15, said belt also running over a pulley8 fixed upon the shaft 8 A belt tightener for the belt 15 is formed by a pulley 16 mounted upon an angled i shaft-17, one angled end of which carries a pulley 16 and the other end of which is connected toyalink l7 which is operated by ineansof a lever 18, said lever working over a rack segment 19. By throwing the said lever .l8 and drawing upon the rod 17 the shaft 17 is partially rotated and the pulley 16 thrown against the belt 15. From the pulley 144 runs a belt 20 which runs over a pulley 21 fixed upon a shaft 22. A belt 23 runs over a pulley 23 also fixed upon the shafti22, and over a pulley 24 mounted upon the shaft of a drum 25, which drum is carried by the upper portion of one side of the frame 1. To this drum 25 is secured an end of a cable 26 the other end of said cable being secured between the ends of metal straps 27, the other ends of said straps being seteuredto opposite sides respectively of the of the cable 28 and being held by the frame 1, or the necessary parts of it, against any swinging movement The sliding frame 31 carries a cradle which receives the ties andfdrop s them upon the car. This cradle consists of two parallel bars 32 rotatably carriedby the frame 81 and extending transversely withrespect to 'the track beneath.

' 'In 'order-that rocking of these bars maybe uniform; they areprovided with intermeshingi'segments 33. The bars are provided with downwardly extending arms 34' the lower end portionsofwhich are angled'in wardly and downwardly, and these angled portions support slats 35 which normally have the r opposing edges resting together, thus forming a supporting cradle upon whichthe conveyer chain'li deposits ties.

Itwillbe obvious that as the slats :35 of the two sides of the cradle slant downwardly and inwardly, that is toward each, other, the falling of a tie upon saidslats' would cause the two sections of the cradle to swing apart, thus opening a space between said slats and allowing the tie to at oncefall between and upon the car. Th1s, howeverpwould result in [the tie pitching head firstnpon the car and the object of my invention is to drop the ties only when they are in a horizontal position. It is therefore necessary that the cradle should hold thetie as it strikes until one end of the tie is moved along the cradle a sufficient distanceto permit the other endof the tie to also drop from the trackway 10 upon the cradle, and to then release the tie. To ac:

V complish this, I providelup'on the slats suitableend pieces 36 and the end pieces adjacent the trackway .10 are provided on their inner faces with inwardly extending lugs 37 between which are loosely pivoted loops 38, said loops extending upwardly and normally slightly inclined toward the end pieces 'to which the lugs are attached. The adiacent ends of the loopsare providedwith downwardly extending angled arms 39. A pivoted catch 40 is'carried by one of the slats 35 and is normally heldin engagement with a suitable recess formed in the other slat by a spring 41 carried by the 'slat to which it the catch is pivoted and which bears upon an end of said catch. Normally the catch would lock the two' slats together, the angled loop arms 39 resting between the catch and the bottom of the slats, both arms being upon the opposite side of the pivotal point of the catch from the spring ll. The first-end of the tie to strike the slats passes over the loops, they lie'"'close"t'o and slightlybelow the top of the end pieces 36. But the other endof the-tie drops from the ends 36 and striking the loops throws them downwardly, the loops turning upon their pivotal points, and this turning of the loops causes the arms to throw the catch 40 out of lockingposition, and the weightof the tie at once causes the slats to swing apart permitting the tie to drop between 1 them and upon the car. The two sides of the cradle then swing together again by gravity and the catch 10 resumes its normal position and the cradle is locked and ready to receive another tie.

The frame 31 can be graduallylifted by the winding of the cable 28 upon the drum 25 as the pi e of ties deposited upon the car grows in height, and "the car can then he pushed along a few feet, the frame 31 lowered, an a new pile of ties started. It will be noted that the cables 26 and 28 are so secured and wound about the drum 25 that rotation of said drum in one direction will wind both of said "cables, and rotation in the other direction will cause both cables to unwind,'sothat as the frame 31 raises or lowers the discharge end of the trackway 10 will also be lifted or lowered, in order to preserve as nearly as possible the same relative position to the cradle at all times.

To prevent rotation of the drum 25 except when necessary to change the position of the frame 31 andtrackivay 10, a pawl 46 engages a drum ratchet 42. By means of a cable 43 the "pawl 4'6 may be disengaged from the ratchet, thus allowing the drum to be driven through the medium of the belt 23 and pulley 2 1. In order to prevent too rapid unwinding of the cable when the parts are lowereda brake i l and brake rope 45 are provided, the said brake bearing upon .the projecting end portion of the drum 25.

From the above description, it is believed that the construction and operation of all of the various parts will be clear and that disadvantages of this constrl'ict'ion will be apparent. I

1. A device of the l'rin'd described, comprising a sectional, swinging, vertically movable cradle, and means for depositing ties in said cradle. t

2. A device of'the kind described comprising" a swinging sectional cradle, means for locking said sections together, means for delivering ties to said cradle, and means operated by fall or a tie into the cradle for unlocking thefsec'tions and permitting them to swing apart.

3. In a device of the kind described, a sectional cradle, the said sections being swung away from each other by weight fa tie and closing by gravity, means for delivering ties to said cradle'and means for locking the secl'lO mechanism being operable by falllof one end of a tie; v

5. A device of the kind described comprising a cradle divided longitudinally into two sections, said sections being movable with respect, to each other, means for delivering a tie to said cradle, means for simultaneously imparting vertical movement to the cradle and to the tie-delivering means, means for locking the cradle sections together until delivery of a tie thereto, and means for automatically unlocking said sections when fthe delivery of a tie has been completed.

6. A device of the kind described comprising a vertical frame arranged above a rail-- Way track, a cradle suspended within said frame adapted to automatically deliver ties to a car upon the track, means for moving the cradle vertically, and a conveyer for delivering ties to said cradle, said "conveyer maintaining at alltimes its relative position with respect to the cradle. a

7. In a device of the kind described, a suspended sectional cradle, means for delivering ties endwise to said cradle, a spring pressed catch locking said sections together during movement of the tie upon the cradle,

'pivoted loops carried by the cradle sections in position to be engaged by the tie as it falls into position, and angled arms carried by said loops disengaging the catch upon fall of the tie, the weight of said tie forcing the cradle sections apart to permit the tie to pass a between them.

8. A tie loader comprising a vertical frame, a vertically movable frame carried by the first mentioned frame, a cradle supported by the vertically movable frame, an inclined conveyer delivering ties to said cradle, means for raising and lowering the second mentioned frame, means for raising and lowering the discharge end of the conveyer in unison with movement of the second mentioned frame, and means for automatically delivering to a car below the cradle the ties discharged from the conveyer upon the cradle. 9. Ade'vice ofthe kind described compriscradle in said frame, a drum, a cable for lift- 1ng and lowering said cradle, the cable being secured to and winding upon said drum, an

inclined conveyor delivering material to said cradle, a cable supporting the discharge end of the conveyer and also secured tosaid drum,both cables winding and unwinding together, means for locking the cable sections together during delivery of material, and means for automatically unlocking said sectionsto permit them to swing apart at a predetermined time. EDGAR PLATTER.

Witnesses:

R. P. PARKER, T. BLACK.

ing a frame, a vertically movable, sectional 7 

